The Daniels Building received a Best of Year award in the higher education category from Interior Design magazine. Winners of the Best of Year awards were announced in the magazine's December issue:

"Designing a space that will in turn inspire great design. That was the heady task that principals Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner undertook at this undergraduate and postgraduate facility. What they accomplished is a rich mix of old and new, patina and polish."

Designed by Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner, principals of the internationally acclaimed firm NADAAA — in collaboration with Architect-of-record Adamson & Associates, landscape architects Public Work, and heritage architects ERA — the Daniels Building at One Spadina includes dynamic, flexible learning and research environments for faculty and students, and will nurture the next generation of leaders in the field.

Other awards that the Daniels Building has received include:

• The Plan Awards, Honorable Mention (2017)
• CISC Ontario Steel Design Award of Excellence (2017)
• Society of American Registered Architects Silver Award of Honor (2015)
• Acknowledgement Prize Holcim Awards (2014)
• Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design: Green Good Design Award (2014)
• Boston Society of Architects: Unbuilt Architecture Award (2013)

2017 was a historic year for the Daniels Faculty, as we moved from our previous home at 230 College Street to our new location at One Spadina Crescent, one of Toronto's most iconic sites. The finishing touches will be put on our new building this winter and spring, when construction on some key spaces — including our Principal Hall and Architecture and Design Gallery — is scheduled to wrap up.

In the meantime, Torontonians, including Globe and Mail columnist Marcus Gee, are taking note of the new Daniels Building and its place in the city.

"The new home for the University of Toronto's architecture school at 1 Spadina Crescent is the kind of little miracle that makes it possible to believe that Toronto really can have nice things after all," writes Gee.

Following a generous donation from developer and U of T architecture alumnus John Daniels and his wife, Myrna, the school had been named the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. Prof. Sommer told U of T leaders that moving to Spadina Crescent would give the school a striking new home and the university new visibility on its western flank. After another Daniels donation, the project got the green light. Architects Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner of NADAAA collaborated on the design along with heritage architects ERA and landscape architects Public Work.

The results are spectacular. The old Gothic revival building has been brought back to its former glory, its yellow-brick façade all cleaned up, its windows renewed, its wood floors sanded and polished. The school's new Eberhard Zeidler Library is there, with space for its rare-book collection. So is a new reading room, in the college's old refectory.

Behind the original building, at the north end of the site, stands a three-storey glass-walled addition with galleries, a meeting hall, high-tech fabrication workshop and a huge, airy design studio with views to the north.
 

Visit the Globe and Mail's website to read the full article.

Learn more about the Daniels Building at One Spadina here.

"The future is certainly wood," says Shane Williamson, a principal at the architecture firm Williamson Williamson Inc. in Toronto, and Associate Professor at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design.

The director of the Master of Architecture program at the University of Toronto was recently interviewed for a Globe and Mail article on the revival of timber-framed construction. The piece was inspired by George Brown College’s plans to build a 12-storey tower framed of wood.

"It's a cost-effective approach to building tall," Williamson told writer Adam Stanley, who noted “wood’s green and efficiency virtues.”

Williamson’s Toronto-based firm Williamson Williamson Inc. (previously Williamson Chong) travelled the world to study the application of engineered wood known as cross-laminated timber (CLT) after winning the Professional Prix de Rome in 2012. This research culminated in, among other things, an exhibition at Corkin Gallery in 2014 that explored wood’s material history.

Building on research and a creative practice that employs advanced digital tools as a means to critically engage and transform traditional modes of construction and tectonic expression, Williamson’s work seeks to situate digital fabrication and wood construction in a broader cultural context. He links theories of design and technology to sustainable building strategies.

"CLT in some ways can be considered a replacement for concrete," Williamson told the Globe and Mail. "In many ways, it provides similar characteristics while offering tremendous benefits."

To read the full article, visit the Globe and Mail’s website.

The new home of the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design is the cover story of Canadian Architect this month. The article, written by former Director of Urban Design and Architecture for the City of Toronto, Ken Greenberg (BArch 1970), looks at the place of One Spadina in the city.

“It is fitting that the urban design catalyst for the western edge of the campus should be an architecture school,” writes Greenberg of the new Daniels Building, noting the landscape, which includes a promenade that encircles the site, bike parking, and a raised belvedere that when complete will act as an outdoor event space with views down Spadina Avenue to the lake. “These convivial gestures speak to a new understanding of the university’s place in the city as committed steward and active contributor.”

Greenberg calls the Daniels Building “a remarkable feat of form-making, site planning, and city building.”

Designed by Nader Tehrani and Katherine Faulkner, principals of the internationally acclaimed firm NADAAA — in collaboration with Architect-of-record Adamson & Associates, landscape architects Public Work, and heritage architects ERA — the Daniels Building at One Spadina houses the University of Toronto’s programs in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design.

Visit Canadian Architect’s website to read the full article, available via an electronic copy of the magazine published via issue.

The Canadian Architect article is one of a number that have recently been published about the Daniels Building. The New York Times, the Globe and Mail, Abitare, Architectural Digest, and Toronto Life, among others, have reviewed One Spadina as it nears completion.

Read what people are saying about One Spadina.

The Site Magazine featured Dayne Roy-Caldwell’s Master of Landscape Architecture thesis After Gold in its recent issue. A recent graduate, Roy-Caldwell (MLA 2016) examined the remains of the mining industry in the northern Ontario town of Kirkland Lake. His project explored the role that the gold-mining industry has played in shaping the region’s landscape vernacular and history, and how the remnants of this industry could form the basis of a new network that addresses social, ecological, and economic challenges faced by post-mining communities.

The theme of this issue of The Site Magazine is "Future Legacies." Leading up to the issue, the magazine also hosted a design competition, of which several alumni were recognized. Winners include Evan Wakelin, MArch 2017 (winner); Shelley Long, MLA 2015 (winner); Emma Mendal, MLA 2016 (Honorable Mention); Rob McIntosh, MLA 2015 (Runner Up); and Fionn Byrne, MLA 2010 (Runner Up).

For more information, and to purchase a copy of the issue, visit http://www.thesitemagazine.com/buy/

Images: “AFTER GOLD: Designing for Post-Mining Realities” by Dayne Roy-Caldwell (MLA 2016)

Masters of Landscape Architecture student Catherine Howell, along with Assistant Professor Jennifer Drake and Associate Professor Liat Margolis, recently published an article in The Conversation describing that — with the appropriate variables — green roofs can help maintain bee populations in cities. Unfortunately, current green roof practices favour the native bee's non-native relatives. As cities sprawl “into their surroundings, fragmenting animal habitats and replacing vegetation with hard surfaces such as concrete and asphalt,” declining bee populations are  an increasing concern.

As the article explains, it is becoming more understood that a green roof needs to be designed to maximize the benefits specific to its context, and the Daniels Faculty’s GRIT Lab is pioneering this research. Factors such as plant species, building height, and proximity to other habitat patches are important to consider when a green roof is designed with bee populations in mind. For example, bees will rarely visit green roofs over 8 storeys high. Additionally, while the plant species called “sedum” is currently the go-to green roof material, it only favours a small percentage of Toronto’s bee population.

“It’s important to note that roughly 92 per cent of Toronto’s bee species are native,” writes the article's authors. “So, favouring non-native plants [like sedum] can provide habitat for non-native bees over native bees, and could consequently lead to increased competition for those native bees.”

Under the supervision of Drake and Margolis, the article was a result of Howell’s summer work term as Student Lab Manager and Research Assistant at the GRIT Lab. 

Said Howell on the experience:

“I was surprised by how varied green roofs can be, and how the variables (planting type, depth, soil, irrigation type) can have different outcomes. I thought it would be pretty simple, like you can spread out a mat of Sedum and call it a day. But not all green roofs are created equal and you need to figure out the location, the size, and what you want your main objective to be to design one properly. Consciously designing green roofs is incredibly important for maximum effectiveness.”

Photo, top: A wild, non-native bee forages for pollen on the green roof of the University of Toronto’s GRIT Lab.

Daily VICE published an interview with alumna Shellie Zhang (HBA, Visual Studies 2013) on her artwork series Accent, which explores the complicated history of MSG, and how fear of the product has racialized undertones.

‘My partner and I were buying groceries in Parkdale, and we saw this beautiful bottle that was loudly labeled as MSG, which sparked my curiosity,' Zhang told Daily VICE. ‘MSG is usually marketed under a different name now, so I started collecting similar products and exploring the history.’

From Zhang’s website:

“In 1968, the New England Journal of Medicine published a letter to the editor from one reader describing radiating pain in his arms, weakness and heart palpitations after eating at Chinese restaurants. He mused that a combination of cooking wine, MSG or excessive salt might have spurred these reactions. Reader responses poured in with similar complaints, and scientists jumped to research the phenomenon, centring on the glutamic salt, MSG. Not long after, the ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’ was born.”
 

Since graduating, Zhang has exhibited at WORKJAM (Beijing), Scope Art Fair (Switzerland) and Public House of Art (Netherlands). Earlier this year, the Accent series was on display at Whippersnapper Gallery and Y+ Contemporary Gallery.

“Many assignments and works produced [at U of T] were useful exercises that equipped me with the necessary knowledge to make work,” said Zhang in an interview with Public Parking. “Once I was thrown back out into the world, I had to confront all of these considerations and re-examine where I want to situate myself as an artist.”

Later this month, Zhang will exhibit artwork in the upcoming exhibition In Pursuit of the Perfect Pose hosted by Gallery 44. In Pursuit of the Perfect Pose explores internalized performative manifestations of femininity and cultural alterity imposed through social structures and societal expectations of marginalized women. Curated by Leila Fatemi, the exhibition includes artworks by Dalia Amara, Rah, Rajni Perera, and Tau Lewis. For more information, visit the Gallery 44 website.

Photo, top: Installation of Accent by Sessional Lecturer Morris Lum (HBA,Visual Studies 2006).

Associate Professor Mason White was recently interviewed by urbanNext on Lateral Office’s participation in the inaugural Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism. Lateral Office's contribution to the Biennale titled States of Disassembly envisioned seven architectural typologies for a techno-commons that would manage our electronic waste stream.

“We were given the theme of recycling, which is interesting because it sounds like a very functional, utilitarian thematic, but there are people, labour, and architectural possibilities within recycling,” said White in the interview with urbanNext. ‘We wanted to look at e-waste’s geopolitics and material politics because the future of waste will be mining precious materials that are embedded in discarded products."

The seven architectural typologies were represented in an axonometric drawing. Each type illustrated is involved in upcycling discarded technology: a port for e-waste, a campus for knowledge exchange, an electronics market, and other building types or public spaces that might exist once we better incorporate the end-of-life materials into our economy.

Our culture currently celebrates the assembly of products, but the un-making, the disassembly will be part of our future, says White. The earth has a finite resource for these precious materials, so eventually we will have to explore urban mining to continue the use of these resources.

Daniels Faculty students Kearon Roy Taylor, Genevieve Simms, and Brandon Bergem, assisted Lateral Office with research and work on the States of Dissassembly exhibit.

View the full interview on Vimeo.

On October 27, Lecturers Adrian Phiffer, Alex Josephson, and Monica Adair will join discussions on marketing and promotion of architecture at this year’s POP // CAN // CRIT symposium. In its second year, POP // CAN // CRIT 2017 will bring together Canadian architects, marketing professionals, photographers, advocacy groups, and media to discuss and debate the vital roles that architects, media, marketing personnel, and the public play in shaping the general discourse surrounding architecture.

Featured Panel Discussions

Panel 2: advocacy + activism
Moderator: Matt Blackett (Spacing)
Speakers: Toon Dreessen, Susan Algie, Monica Adair, Johanna Hurme

Panel 3: image + architecture
Moderator: Adrian Phiffer
Speakers: Ben Rhan, Younes Bounhar, Amanda Large, Norm Li, Naomi Kriss

Panel 4: architecture as icon/ branding + Toronto condo revolution
Moderator: Nicola Spunt (PARTISANS)
Speakers: Alex Josephson, Alex Bozikovic, Adrian Phiffer

In these discussions, participants will be answering questions such as, “In what ways do we market architecture?" "How can we best advocate for the profession?" "And what impact does a photograph have on our understanding of the built environment?” The event will take place at the Design Exchange in Toronto with $45 general admission and $35 student admission. Tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite.

For more information, visit http://spacing.ca/popcancrit/

Listen to audio from last year’s discussions:

Photo, top: Tinker's Orchard by Acre Architects, founded by Monica Adair and Stephen Kopp.

Alumna Deanna Bowen (MVS 2008) was recently profiled by Canadian Art for her research on anti-Blackness in 20th-century Canada. Bowen is a descendant of the Alabama- and Kentucky-born Black Prairie pioneers of Amber Valley and Campsie, Alberta, and this family geneology largely informs her artwork.

“To understand how her family history positions her in Canada today, Bowen’s deep historical research ranges from community and institutional archives, first-person conversations and forgotten photographs to newspaper clippings and television recordings,” writes Canadian Art. “She uses whatever medium can best tell the stories she uncovers: shot-for-shot remakes in video and performance, documentary photography, text-based reproductions, and a theatrical production for a fall 2017 solo exhibition at Mercer Union.”

In 2013, Bowen’s exhibit at the Art Gallery of York University explored the Ku Klux Klan’s role in 20th century Canadian history by strategically displaying violent, white supremacist banners. The exhibit sparked a conversation on campus and caused “people who pass by everyday to literally trip over themselves.”